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Kristin Baggelaar exchanges messages with former Copa Girl Carla Conaway:
Hi Kristin, This morning I was going through piles of old papers and discovered a letter written to me from Terri Stevens in 1977. In it she mentioned Doug Coudy, which brought back memories, so I Googled him and found you! I've been reading the site ever since. (Soooo much for plowing through the boxes of papers.) Anyhoot, what wonderful memories! I see there was a reunion in 2007. Damnnnn! Wished I had known. I would have been there with bells on . . . or dance shoes. You know, once a Copagirl, always a Copagirl. l also saw a picture of one of my Copacutie dance mates, Susan Seton. She was the youngest in our line. I turned 20 in January of '65 at the Copa. I was in the 64/64 line. I also have many wonderful stories of my days at the Copa - Sammy, Tony, Bernie Brillstein, Joe Mele - sooo many good friends from then that I traveled through my life with. Still to this day I have contact with Wendy Taylor Triffon. She married George Triffon, the trumpet player and Copagirl lover, but that's another story (haha). Anyway, I am going to Amazon to order your book, and I will also sit down to share some stories at another time - have to get back to the boxes before the grandkids come. I would love to be put in touch with Susan Seton and also hear from you. Any plans for another reunion? PLEASE! The Copa was a very special time in my life, as in the lives of so many others. My mom was a Copa Girl 20 years before me, and Doug was also her choreographer. She passed away two years ago now. Our favorite show was "Dancing With the Stars." I can still see the smile on her face as we watched it together. I'm looking forward to hearing back from you. Love
and blessings,
  Hi Carla, It was great to hear from you. Thanks for taking the time to tell me a little bit about yourself and your experience as a Copa Girl. I forwarded your e-mail to Susan and Terri. I haven't seen Susan since the B&N book signing, but we have e-mailed back and forth a bit. I had a wonderful time with her when she was here for the "reunion." She helped me put up some of the displays and set up for the event; her work at Hilton really came in handy! She's a great gal and a lot of fun. Her brother still lives in this area (NYC), so I hope to get to see her again (I live in Glen Cove, Nassau county, L.I.). I have had a few individuals suggest that we have another reunion of some kind, so maybe you will get another chance at it. I have become very good friends with Terri, who still resides in Bayside. I see her quite a bit. I'll ask her if she remembers you or writing the letter that you mentioned. Did it have something to do with the Copa Girl alumni club by any chance? She was one of the founders of the organization, and president, I believe. At any rate, I know she was very involved in running different events for the girls. By the way - she is still singing, was crowned Ms. NY Senior America 2002, and still is as lovely as ever. Actually, Terri was the same vintage, more or less, as your mom; did they know one another? Terri also enjoys watching DWTS - a throwback to those years when dancing was so glorious. Where do you live now? Thanks again for being in touch. With your permission, I'd like to post your correspondence on the Copa web site. Do you mind? We created a Guest Book page, as you may have discovered; I think your e-mail would be a nice addition. Best wishes, Kris May 18, 2010
Hi Kristin, Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, the letter from Terri was from the Copa Girl alumni, and I may have met her at the one reunion many years ago. I don't know if my mom knew her or not. My mom also worked at the Latin Quarter and was a dancer for Arthur Murry, as was my aunt. As for posting my little story, sure. I enjoyed reading the others. Actually, I have many stories. I never did attend college and I always said that my experience at the Copa was like going to finishing school. Not just a street kid from Astoria when I left there, I could hold conversations with the best of them. I also reconnected with another gal from our line in 2001 through my dad, and we have been in contact since. I live in Northern California and have since 1983. I left New York a few months after the Copa and went to work in Puerto Rico. I stayed there three years, then moved to Vegas. I didn't dance in Vegas - ran cocktails at the Dunes Hotel for 10 years. I didn't want to go topless and in those days to get in the shows that was Vegas. My memories are many: Kitty the wardrobe mistress, Anya the palm reader, Carmine the matri'd/bouncer, Larry Matthews and our upsweeps, Sy Preston, who was our publicity agent. Oh my, oh my!! Where does Susan live now? I saw there was a Facebook group and asked to join but haven't got a response on that yet. I
do have to tell you that on opening night - we opened with Joe E. Lewis
and Helen Morgan - anyhoot, myself and a gal named Liz (she was short-lived
anyway), we escorted John, our singer, upstage, then we would turn and
go back. Well, up we go and there in the front is Jackie Cooper.
I always loved him and he was still so cute! Soooo, there he is and
there I am so flustered that I turned the wrong way (heehee) - never forget
that. Also, in our second number we wore extremely form fitting gold
lame gowns that flounced out at the bottom with wists of blue, and we wore
these ostrich-plumed feathered hats that kept going in and out our eyes.
We tried telling Doug, but no, that was what we were wearing, soooo, the
second number comes and out we dance one, two, three - blow one, two, three,
blow. All you could see were eight gals blowing feathers out of their
faces - sooo funny. The next night, in we come and instead of the
hats, there were the feathers on berets to be worn on the sides of our
heads. Guess they got the message!
Love
and blessings,
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